Plus 500 Forex Broker
Plus 500 is a prominent brokerage listed on the London Stock Exchange, boasting over 25 million registered traders. Specializing in CFD trading, it offers a user-friendly in-house platform and mobile app. The online forex broker features low spreads, no deposit/withdrawal fees, and holds licenses from respected regulators such as the FCA, ASIC, and CySEC, ensuring a high trust score.
Pros
- No Commission
- Variety of tradable instruments
- Availability of premium service
- Advanced educational and analytical resources
Cons
- MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 are not available
- Low speed of withdrawal process
- Inactivity fee
Plus 500 Review Summary
Plus 500 is a well-known brokerage platform that has a lot to offer. It is easy to use and has an impressive selection of tradable assets. The spreads on Plus 500 are also very competitive across the board, which means there’s more possibility for profit. It’s regulated by several respected financial authorities and listed on the London Stock Exchange. As for educational resources of Plus 500, they are high-quality; however, there is still a place to grow. The broker is famous for its commitment to keeping clients’ funds safe (accounts are separate from company funds, and there’s negative balance protection). In general, Plus 500 is a legitimate choice for people of different ages and trading experiences, but advanced traders may lack the MT4 platform.
Supported Countries
Plus 500 is available in more than 50 countries, such as the UK, the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, and many other countries, including European ones. Nevertheless, there are countries where Plus 500 is unavailable; among them are Belgium, the Russian Federation, Iran, Canada, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire, Cameroon, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Egypt, Pakistan, France, the Cayman Islands, and the Philippines. You can check if the platform is available in your country using the Plus 500 website.
Trading information
As a forex trading broker, Plus 500 lets you trade with no commissions and employs floating spreads. The broker offers competitive conditions for trades. There are few non-trading fees besides the $10 charged after three months of inactivity. Meanwhile, the broker provides a pretty impressive set of available assets. So, we’ll delve into the details and start with available trading platforms.
Trading platforms
MetaTrader 4&5, assumed as the main trading platforms, are unfortunately not available on Plus 500. Instead, the broker offers its own proprietary WebTrader platform that is praised for its convenience by many customers. It is available on the Web, IOS, and Android platforms.
When you first log in to the system, you will see a chart on the lower part of your screen, with a drop-down menu at the top where you can select the instrument you’d like to trade. You can either scroll through the hundreds of currency pairs, cryptocurrencies, commodities, shares, and indices by their full name or quickly sell/buy any of them by clicking on its preview window anywhere on the site.
There is also Plus 500’s mobile app, which shares many features with the web platform. The app includes alerts, watchlists, an economic calendar, and pinch-to-zoom charts. The app lets you use your phone to make trades and do basic research. Moreover, Plus 500 is a trading app highly rated on Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Plus 500 Trading Account Types
Plus 500 differs from many competitors by offering just one primary type of trading account (there is also a demo account and premium service, but we’ll get to them later). This means that every trader has access to the full range of investment products, platforms, and tools, which makes their trading experience more inclusive. The account lets you trade lots as small as 0. 01, so people at many different skill levels can use it. As for the minimum deposit, it is $100.
Regarding trading conditions, you can pick the type of money your account uses: USD, EUR, GBP, or AUD. This way, you can always deposit, trade, and withdraw in a currency that’s the easiest to use without paying for conversions. Plus 500 account offers leverage up to 1:30, absence of commission, analytical tools, etc.
If you don’t want to pay swaps, also known as rollover fees, on positions you keep open overnight, you can get a swap-free account instead. Plus 500 forex broker offers these accounts in some places to follow local religious rules about earning interest (or not).
By offering just one basic type of live trading account, Plus 500 tries to ensure all users can access the same low live forex trading spreads no matter how much money they’ve invested.
Premium service
People who make a lot of trades can get a professional account with extra features. Plus 500 Premium Service is invitation-only. It means that the broker’s representatives will write to you once you’ve been selected as a Premium Trader.
The professional account has perks like higher leverage, better order execution, and cash rebates. Negative balance protection is also included with Plus 500’s professional trading account. This feature ensures you never owe more money than you initially put into your account. Premium service also includes better expert support. For example, premium service users get periodic emails containing expert analysis of upcoming trading events and external trading webinars.
Demo account
If you want to try out Plus 500’s platform before you start trading for real, you can open a free demo account. With this account, you’ll get an unlimited amount of demo money to trade with so that you can see what it’s like to use Plus 500’s software. Their entire investment selection consists of CFDs, meaning you speculate on the price of Bitcoin and other coins but don’t own them. It’s a risk-free environment where you can practice trading with virtual funds and live market data.
Tradable Assets on Plus 500
Plus 500 offers an outstanding range of tradable assets in different financial markets so that traders with many styles can find something that works for them.
- Forex: more than 60 major, minor, and exotic currency pairs. Tight spreads and a large number of forex instruments
- Indices: capability of trading with CFDs on over 30 indices funds, including funds that track countries’ top stocks, ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) funds, and sector funds.
- Commodities: 24 different commodities can be traded. You can go long or short and trade agricultural products like wheat and energy products like natural gas and oil.
- Shares: Plus 500 provides a selection of more than 1,800 shares. You can buy shares from companies like LVMH, Amazon, Apple, Tesla, Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc., and Lloyds Banking Group Plc.
- Options: available in EUR/USD, natural gas, Deutsche Bank shares, and the Europe 50 index.
- ETFs: CFD trading on over 90 ETFs. Some examples include iShares Silver Trust ETF, Commodity Index Fund ETN, and PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF.
Deposits
There are many ways to pay when you fund your Plus500 trading account. To make things easy, they accept a few different methods. You can see all of the methods in the table below.
| Payment Method | Processing Time | Fees | Limits |
| Apple Pay | Instantaneous | None | Min: $100 Max: $10,000 |
| Credit Card | Instantaneous | None | Min: $100 Max: $10,000 |
| Debit Card | Instantaneous | None | Min: $100 Max: $10,000 |
| Mastercard | Instantaneous | None | Min: $100 Max: $10,000 |
| PayPal | Instantaneous | None | Min: $100 Max: $10,000 |
| Skrill | Instantaneous | None | Min: $100 Max: $10,000 |
| Trustly | Instantaneous | None | Min: $100 Max: $10,000 |
| Visa | Instantaneous | None | Min: $100 Max: $10,000 |
| Wire Transfer | 1-3 business days | Bank-dependent | Min: $500 |
Choose your preferred method, and after a successful deposit, you can start trading on Plus 500 with the deposited funds.
Withdrawals
Plus 500 facilitates convenient withdrawals with various options. The table below summarizes the withdrawal methods, processing times, fees, and limits:
| Withdrawal Method | Processing Time | Fees | Limits |
| Credit Card | 3-7 business days | None | Min: $50 Max: $50,000 |
| PayPal | 3-7 business days | None | Min: $50 Max: $50,000 |
| Skrill | 3-7 business days | None | Min: $50 Max: $50,000 |
| Bank Transfer | 3-7 business days | None | Min: $100 Max: No limit |
Choose the withdrawal method that suits your preferences, and once processed, you’ll receive your funds according to the specified processing times.
Plus 500 trading education and training
Another great feature of the platform is that traders can get help making smart trading choices from the research and education tools offered by Plus 500. The broker has fewer of these tools than other brokers, but it has worked hard to improve its educational materials and resources.
The market has several tabs to choose from: Trading Academy, News & Market Insights, Economic Calendar, Risk Management, and Alerts.
The most exciting thing here is the Trading Academy. It contains a trader’s guide which covers all the initial questions every beginner has. For example, videos explain rollover, how to trade with Plus 500, and what types of trading charts exist.
The Beginner’s guide offers educational material in the form of articles. If a trader’s guide is more about practical issues, a beginner’s guide considers theoretical trading questions. For instance, there’s info on trading strategies, technical and fundamental analysis questions, etc.
Webinars are usually dedicated to narrow topics which can be interesting for traders of any level. The same situation applies to e-books; the section comprehensively explains the trading instruments, features, etc.
Research instruments, including News & Market Insights, Economic Calendar, and Alerts, are standard but still of high-quality level. For example, you can get alerts to your email and stay updated constantly. For instance, you want to know when Oil’s Buy price reaches $67 as you believe it will likely rise. Set a price alert, and if Oil reaches that level, notifications will be sent to you via your preferred method of communication. That’s one of the worthy features Plus 500 offers.
Plus 500 License and Regulatory Compliance
Plus 500 is a trusted and legal forex broker that has regulation from top financial authorities. Some of their most essential licenses are from the UK Financial Conduct Authority, a UK-based company with its main offices located in the city of London (Plus500UK Ltd is authorized to operate Plus 500’s business in the UK), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (Plus500AU Pty Ltd holds its FSP license), the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (Plus500CY Ltd’s CIF license), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (PLUS500SG Pte Ltd’s CMS License and IG’s trading accounts with minimum investment), and an ASIC license for Australia (AFSL #417727). In addition to these, it also has a South African license issued by the FSCA, a New Zealand license issued by the FMA, an Estonian license issued by the EFSA, a Seychelles license issued by the FSA, and a second UK license held via Plus500SEY Ltd which operates under a Seychelles license. Besides that, the broker also uses segregated client accounts.
Customer Support
You can be sure that Plus 500 has good customer support. If you need help, you can contact them using live chat or email. The support team is available 24/7 to quickly answer any questions or deal with any issues. Also, Plus 500 offers a comprehensive FAQ divided into sections, such as the account verification process, submitting Identification documents, fees, withdrawals, etc.
Based on 13,130 reviews, Plus 500 has received a “Great” rating, with Trustpilot scoring it 4.1 out of 5 stars for their customer service. This score comes from users who have traded with the broker and used their customer service, meaning that Plus 500 tries hard to keep its customers happy. Most people also point out great bonuses, straightforward interfaces, and great customer support. However, there were still some people who had bad experiences.
How to open a Plus 500 account
- Registration: On the Plus 500 website and click on “Start Trading.” Provide your email, create a password, and choose your country of residence.
- Verification: First of all, you need to verify your email by clicking the link in the message received. Complete the required identity verification by giving the verification of your name, date of birth, residential address, phone number, email address and payment method, etc. And the main part of opening an account is over.
- Account Type and Funding: Choose your account type (demo or real money) and fund your account.
- Agree to Terms: Review and agree to the terms and conditions.
- Start Trading: Once your account is verified and funded, you can start trading on the Plus 500 platform.
FAQ
Are there any hidden fees on Plus 500?
Plus 500 does not charge any hidden fees. All the fees are published and open on their website.
Does Plus 500 provide a demo account?
Yes, Plus 500 offers a demo account for traders to practice for free.
What trading instruments does Plus 500 offer?
Plus 500 provides CFD trading for more than 2,800 financial instruments. Some of these are shares, forex, indices, cryptocurrencies, commodities, ETFs, and options.
How much is the maximum leverage at Plus 500?
For a Standard Account, the maximum leverage is 1:30.If you were selected as a premium client, spread can reach 1:300.
How can I withdraw my funds from Plus 500?
Here’s an instruction to make a withdrawal: Click on “Funds” → “Withdrawal” → Select your preferred withdrawal method → Fill in the fields and click on the “Open a Withdrawal” button.